A blog by a Professional Genealogist who is the Houston County, TN. Archivist working in a county archives everyday

Monday, January 16, 2017

Autograph Books in the Archives

Many of us enjoy Facebook or Twitter everyday to keep up with our family members, connect with others researching the same surnames we are and to keep up with the latest news and events.

Autograph books at the Houston County, Tennessee Archives

Our ancestors used different mediums to connect with friends and family. One of those mediums were autograph books. Many of our ancestors had these types of books and filled them with signatures of friends, family, schoolmates and other people they came in contact with on a daily basis. Sometimes there was just a signature and other times there was a short message of encouragement, a poem or just a pleasant greeting.

Inside of Autograph books at the Houston County, Tennessee Archives

These autograph books come in all shapes and sizes. Some were leather bound and others had different colored pages. These books were a type of "social media" back in the day and were very popular.

Autograph book page for Ruth McAuley dated 1893 at the Houston County, Tennessee Archives

These books were very popular with school children, especially graduating seniors to capture their final year of school and to record memories from their school friends.

Autograph book page for Shirley (Unknown) dated 1938 at the Houston County, Tennessee Archives

Some of you may have an autograph book that belonged to your ancestor in your own personal genealogy collection. If you don't, it's possible there could be one located in a local archive collection, historical society or genealogical society collection.

Autograph book page for Ludelia Marable, Senior at Erin High School 1934-1935 at Houston County, Tennessee Archives

Autograph books will be located in the Manuscript Collection of a repository. They will probably be part of a larger collection of records. You will need to check the Finding Aid to the individual collection to see if an autograph book is listed as being in the collection.

Next time you are researching in an archives, ask if they have autograph books and maybe they will have one for your ancestor. Or maybe they will have one for someone your ancestor knew and your ancestor signed it. Autograph books are a great genealogical resource to find information or just a signature to document your ancestor's life story.

REMEMBER: IT'S NOT ALL ONLINE, CONTACT OR VISIT AN ARCHIVE TODAY!

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2 comments:

I have a couple of autograph books that belonged to ancestors. I was able to use to determine when he left home and when he was in various locations. Friends signed the book in Los Angeles and Oregon. Plus I have signatures of all of his family members including his parents.

About Me

Melissa Barker is the Houston County, TN. Archivist and a Professional Genealogist, owner of Once Upon A Time Genealogy. She has over 26 years of genealogy research experience and 6 years experience in the Archives/Records Management field. Melissa is currently the Houston County, Tennessee Archivist/Records Manager that she helped to start from scratch in 2010. She established the Once Upon A Time Genealogy business in 2004 and helped clients by researching their histories in the Tennessee and Kentucky areas. She is now speaking, teaching and writing about genealogy research with an emphasis on archives research and records preservation.

Melissa is a 2009 graduate of the ProGen Study Group (an 18-month study of the book Professional Genealogist edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills). She is also a graduate of the Tennessee State Library and Archives Archives Institute, receiving her Certified Archival Records Manager certificate.

Melissa gives back to her local genealogy community by teaching a free genealogy class at her local library each month.

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